The Best Chocloate Cookies

My god, has it been almost a year since my last post? Sorry to all my avid fans (all 9 of you) - I have been baking and cooking, just that there have been more pressing items on my agenda such as playing new computer games, oh and recovering from a shoulder operation. I apologise, and to show how much, here's a simple recipe for the most delicious cookies ever.

Preparation & Cooking time:
10 mins prep + 10-20 mins baking + 10-15 mins cooling

Ingredients:
100g organic plain flour
120g rolled (porridge) oats
3 tbsp cocoa powder
1 and a half tsp baking soda
half tsp salt
half tsp ground cinnamon
110g butter (softened)
100g soft brown sugar
100g white sugar
1 egg (free range or organic)
1 tsp vanilla extract
85g chocolate chips / nuts / other filling

Method:
Preheat the oven to 175C

Sift the flour and the cocoa powder into a large mixing bowl. Add in the oats, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Mix together and put aside.

In another mixing bowl blend the butter and the sugar until creamy. Beat in the egg and the vanilla extract gently - careful not to make it curdle. Add in the dry ingredients from the other bowl and blend together well. Your mixture might appear a little dry, add a tablespoon of milk if you like. Add in the chocolate chips/nuts and blend once more.

Line a tray with baking/greaseproof paper. Taking about a dessert spoon each time, roll the mixture into balls and place on the baking paper about 15cm apart. The balls will flatten during cooking so you need to make sure there will be enough space between each one.

Cook for 10-20 minutes depending on how big your cookies are. Remove from the oven and if your cookies are a little bit crusty on the top and light and fluffy in the middle, they're done.

Leave to cool for 5 minutes on the baking paper and a further 10-20 minutes on a wire rack.

Brigadeiro

The ultimate sweet. Originating in Brazil and named after Brigadier Eduardo Gomes (supposedly because he was dark and handsome), it's popularity has spread simply because it is soooo delicious.

This is a must-have for parties, especially chidren's parties - but be prepared for some hyperactive kids afterwards.

Made by mixing a little butter, condensed milk and chocolate powder. If you have a tendancy to eat sweet things, this is the food for you.

You will need a good quality pan with a thick bottom for this, if you burn the mixture it will ruin.

You might also want to use some individual mini muffin cases, but this is not essential.

Preparation time:
5 minutes + 30 minutes cooling + 30 minutes making

Cooking time:
15-25 minutes

Ingredients:
half a spoon of butter
2 spoons of chocolate powder
1 can condensed milk
chocolate spinkles

Method:
Sift the chocolate powder into a pan, add the butter and condensed milk and mix as well as you can (there will be a few balls of butter but these will melt during heating).

Put on a low heat and stir and fold continuously until the mixture becomes just thick enough to stay on the spoon/spatula.

Pour into a lightly greased bowl and leave to cool for 15-30 minutes.

Lick the pan (you will not be able to resist!).

Pour some chocolate spinkles into a bowl.

Now comes the messy bit. One the mixture is cool, grease your hands with butter. With a teaspoon scoop up a little of the mixture, transfer to your hands and roll into a little ball. Drop into the sprinkles and roll around until the ball is covered.

Place in a muffin case and repeat the process until all the mixture is used up, you should have about 20 or so when finished.

Haddock & Potato Bake

This, I have to confess is not my own creation - I got the idea from one of those Waitrose suggestion cards. Nonetheless, it is the type of dish you can add variations to very easily and so worthy of an entry on the blog.

The dish itself is already a variation on one made with anchovies, known as Jansen's Temptation.

Preparation time:
15-20 minutes

CookingTime:
1 hour

Serves:
4-6

Ingredients:
400g haddock
700g potatoes
1 onion
2 gloves of garlic
300ml single cream
100ml milk
Salt & pepper

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

Peel and cut the potatoes into chips about 5mm wide. Season and leave to one side. Chop the onion into slices.

Put the haddock in a pan with cold water. Cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the meat is just cooked through. Drain off the water and remove the skin. Flake the meat into a mixing bowl, add crushed/chopped garlic and mix together. Season with a little salt and pepper.

Add the potato and onion and toss gently then put the mixture into a greased dish, leaving the top uneven. Mix the milk and cream together and pour over.

Leave in the oven for 1 hour. If the top layer starts to look too burnt (you want it somewhat crispy), cover with foil. Serve immediately with a green salad or peas.

Lime & Pepper Chicken Goujons

This is a well known combination, but it is simple and delicious. The secret here is quality ingredients.

The preparation is the most difficult part with this one, but if you get everything ready beforehand the process is quite straightforward.

Preparation time:
30 minutes

Cooking time:
30 minutes

Serves:
2-4

Ingredients:
400g chicken breast fillet
3 slices good quality brown bread
1 egg
2 limes
plain flour
black pepper
salt

Method:
Slice the chicken lengthways into strips about 2-3cm thick and put aside in a bowl and season with a little salt.

Lightly toast the bread and break up into crumbs (or put in the blender).

Wash the limes and grate all the zest into a dish. Add the bread crumbs and a little salt. Add the black pepper, turning the grinder for about 20 seconds, and mix the ingredients evenly.

Add the juice of the limes to the chicken.

In another bowl whisk the egg.

In another bowl (a flat dish if available) put some plain flour, enough so that there is about a half centimetre layer in the middle.

Line the bowls and dishes up as follows:
chicken
flour
egg
bread crumbs

Take a piece of chicken (allow to drip-dry a little) and dip first in the flour to soak up the lime juice, then in the egg and finally in the bread crumbs. Add to a greased baking tray.

It is best to use a pair wooden tongs here, unless you like having kak-covered fingers of course.

Place in the oven at 190 degrees and cook for 30 minutes turning once or twice. Allow to cool a little before serving.

Chocolate, Orange & Whisky Cake

There seems to be a bit of a running theme developing here...what can I say? Cake is good and this one was especially good.

Orange cake is very common in Brazil and you will find it in nearly every coffee shop/snack bar. They make it in much the same way but in a traditional ring form, like a big doughnut.

I have substituded the type of chocolate powder used for the topping because I could not source 'Padre' (a Nestlé chocolate powder with two priests on the front), using Cadbury's Bournville powder instead.

Preparation Time:
30 minutes

Cooking Time:
1 hour (approx)

Ingredients:
1 large orange
2 eggs
sugar
self-raising flour
a handful of sultanas
whisky
unsalted butter
icing sugar
bournville (or Padre) chocolate powder

Method:
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees.

Put the sultanas in a glass. Add whisky until about half the sultanas are covered. Stir gently, adding a little sugar until all of the sultanas are wet with whisky. Cover with a small plate or clingfilm and leave to soak.

Wash the orange and cut in half. Cut one half into smaller segments and add to the blender (peel and flesh). Add just the peel of the other half to the mix and blend for 30 seconds.

Weigh the eggs and weigh out the same in butter, sugar and self-raising flour. Add the eggs, butter and sugar to the mix and blend. Add the flour and blend again until all is mixed in well and you can see no lumps moving around.

At this point you need to use a bit of judgement - the cake mix is going to be a bit wetter than a normal cake because we have added the juice of half an orange. Add a little more flour, blending as you go, until the mix looks right...Using a spoon or a spatula, take a big scoop of the mix - if it drips off it is too wet, add some more flour.

Grease a cake tin and lightly dust with plain flour to prevent the cake sticking to it during cooking. Add the mix.

Add the sultanas and whisky on top, folding in very gently to the top layer of the mix. You should still be able to see some of the sultanas poking through.

Put in the oven for approximately one hour (check with a knife to see if the middle is done at about 50 minutes).

Take the cake out of the oven, remove from the tin and leave to cool on a rack.

To make the topping first melt some butter in a pan, do not boil it.

Add some chocolate powder and the same proportion of icing sugar to a bowl and mix evenly, making sure any balls of icing sugar are broken up (you could always sift the powder in instead).

Add the melted butter, mixing it in evenly with a spatula as you go. You want the mix here to be quite thick but if you feel it needs more butter then add some (only needs to be soft at this stage, no need to melt it in the pan again).

Wait until the cake is completely cool (otherwise your butter icing will melt off the sides) and spread the mixture over the top and sides evenly. Wait for the topping to harden a little and serve.

Coffee and Walnut Cake

Mmmm....cake.

The basic formula here can be used for any sponge cake. I love coffee cake and we had some espresso left over from breakfast and a spare 45 minutes so I thought why not?

I added some walnuts and sultanas that I found in the cupboard (I thought afterwards the sultanas might have been better soaked in rum or brandy but as I had neither of those anyway...nevermind). We only had one egg so this was going to be a small cake.

Ingredients:
1 egg
self-raising flour
butter
sugar
icing sugar
fresh(ish) made coffee or freeze dried granules
a handful of sultanas (soaked overnight in alcohol of choice)
a handful of walnuts

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Turn it to non-fan if you have a fan oven and the option, but it's not essential.

Weigh the egg then weigh out the same in flour, butter and sugar. Add to a mixing bowl and whisk. I did it by hand but you can used a blender, you just need to make sure you get enough air in.

If you are using coffee granules; put two spoons in a mug and add a little water (75ml max) or add one shot of espresso coffee. Whisk more.

Add the sultanas and half the walnuts and mix in by hand.

Grease a cake tin and add the mixture. Put in the oven and leave to cook until the cake has risen fully and the top is a little bit crispy, should be about 30 minutes. You can check if the cake is cooked properly by inserting a knife into the middle - if it comes out clean the cake is cooked.

In the meantime, make the icing.

Sift some icing sugar into a bowl, estimate how much you need, you can always make more if you don't have enough. Add some more coffee a little at a time and blend until the all the icing sugar is dissolved and you have a nice thick consistency.

Take the cake out of the oven, press out of the dish and leave to cool. Spread the icing evenly over the cake and sprinkle some more walnuts on top.

Sorry, no picture with this one, we ate it too quickly!

Lime & Coconut Chicken Marinade

This one was a bit of an experiment but nonetheless quite tasty. I know they use coconut in lots of Indian and Thai spicy dishes with chicken so what could go wrong? I had some leftover creamed coconut from the moqueca made in the week and some chicken drumsticks in the freezer, so decided to make a marinade.

A bit more effort required here with waiting overnight but the initial preparation is easy meaning you can prepare a meal for the following night - especially if you're taking the chicken out of the freezer anyway.

As a side we had sweet potatoes and a simple salad. I'm not quite sure the sweet potatoes were a good addition, it clashed a little with the sweet taste of the marinade. Perhaps new or mashed potatoes or simply white rice might have been better...still, this is the point here - just try it out...

Preparation time:
15 minutes + marinate overnight

Cooking time:
45-55 minutes

Serves:
2-4

Ingredients:
6-8 chicken pieces
200ml creamed coconut
2 tsp tempeiro baiano/cayenne pepper
Salt & Pepper
Juice of one lime + a little zest
2 garlic cloves
Yoghurt or cream

Method:
Season the chicken pieces with the salt and pepper and put aside in a bowl.

Put the coconut, tempeiro/pepper and garlic in a blender and pulse a few times. Cut the lime and add the juice to the mixture, add some zest as well. Add a dollop of yoghurt/cream and blend again.

Pour the mixture over the chicken, cover with clingfilm and leave to marinate in the fridge overnight.

...

Turn the oven to 200 degrees. Put the chicken in a oven dish, and leave to cook for 45 to 55 minutes, turning once or twice basting the chicken with any juices that have come out, until the skin is a crisp golden brown.

Take out of the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes. Serve.